Bill proposes to close loophole on dog fighting

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Nevada is the only state that does not prohibit possessing and training an animal such as a dog or a cock for fights, and Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert wants to close that loophole.

Deputy Sheriff Dennis Allen of Washoe County says he had three cases last year and has a current investigation into dog fighting, which has cooled off in the winter.

He said has a confidential informant who says there are 300 to 500 people at one fight, drug dealing and large sums of money wagered. And there are several security guards at the gate.

Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Elko, said he thinks a “tremendous” number of cock fights are being staged in Las Vegas by people from California.

Beverlee McGrath of the U.S. Humane Society told the Assembly Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining Committee this is the only state that does not prohibit training of fighting animals. Promoting or staging an animal fight is illegal in Nevada.

McGrath says these fights last two hours or longer and the losing dog can’t get the care of a veterinarian. And sometimes the mauled dog is abandoned alongside a road.

Senate Bill 199 would make it a gross misdemeanor to own, train, promote or purchase an animal with the intent to use it in a fight with another animal.

Assemblyman Jerry Claborn, the committee chairman, said “something needs to be done” about the situation. The committee took the bill under study.

Gansert, R-Reno, said it was not the intent of this bill to make it illegal to possess a junkyard dog and that law enforcement would not go around and prosecute somebody with an aggressive dog.

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Nevada may take another big hit from the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy.

The state Public Employees Retirement System could lose $90 million with the collapse of the investment banker, Dana Bilyeu, executive director of the retirement system, said Monday.

That comes on the heels of the recent revelation by state Treasurer Kate Marshall that Nevada stands to lose $50 million with Lehman Bros. bankruptcy.

“Our total return numbers are better than the treasury because we invest differently,” Bilyeu said. “We do long-term investment ... We had a $90 million total but remember, we’re an $18 billion fund.”

The loss was triggered by collapse of the junk bond market, Bilyeu said. She noted that the retirement system would be in the bankruptcy court, just like the treasurer.

“Two days before (Lehman) went bankrupt, they were triple-A rated,” Bilyeu said. “They were a big part of the financial market and everybody participated in Lehman’s. That’s the nature of it.”

And the system is monitoring the bankruptcy court.

Bilyeu said everyone always likes to talk about the losses “but no one has asked me how much money we have made on Microsoft, which is over 5,000 percent.”

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The three nominees to replace Tim Maland, who resigned in September as state tourism director, are from out of state.

The state Tourism Commission interviewed five candidates Monday and sent the top three to Gov. Jim Gibbons to make the final selection.

The commission voted unanimously to nominate Pasquale Barone, former managing director for global sales of Eos Airlines in Purchase, N.Y., and Dann H. Lewis, project manager for the Transportation and Tourism Research Initiative of the Maine Transportation Department.

For the third candidate, the commission picked Tom Jensen of a real estate firm in South Whidbey Island, Wash., over Tamara Hollingsworth, general manager of the Tahoe Beach & Ski Club at South Lake Tahoe. Gibbons has proposed merging the tourism and economic development agency but it’s unclear whether the Legislature will accept his recommendation.